MANITOBA GOVERNMENT BUILDING NEW EMS STATION IN ST. LAURENT– – –New Station to Support Quality, Front-line Health-care Services: Minister Blady

ST. LAURENT—Construction is now underway on a new emergency medical services facility in St. Laurent, Health Minister Sharon Blady announced here today.

“We remain committed to ensuring high-quality emergency medical services are available in communities across the province,” said Minister Blady. “This new facility will also provide area paramedics with employment opportunities closer to home in the St. Laurent area.”

The $680,000 facility includes space for one ambulance and will have an attached crew area that includes a washroom, kitchenette, work rooms and large multi-purpose room.

“Emergency medical services are an essential part of sustainable health care in rural Manitoba and paramedics are indispensable parts of our care teams. On-call work is demanding for care providers and facilities like the new station in St. Laurent help to ensure paramedics continue to be at their best when responding to calls in our communities,” said Ron Van Denakker, CEO, Interlake-Eastern RHA.

The facility will be built by Langreen Ltd. and is expected to be completed early next year, the minister said.

Other investments in health care in St. Laurent include the provision of Telehealth services in 2010, which uses information technology to connect people to health-care services at a distance. A high-speed, secure, video link is used to connect clients to health-care providers at different locations in Manitoba.

The minister noted the announcement builds on a 10-year commitment to implement the recommendations of the Manitoba EMS System Review conducted in 2013. Other recent investments in emergency services provincewide include:• providing $6.2 million for the purchase of 52 new replacement ambulances; • providing an estimated $11 million each year to fund the full patient cost of inter-facility transports;• creating 30 new front-line paramedic positions in the Prairie Mountain Health and Southern Health–Santé Sud regional health authorities; and• providing $9.7 million to purchase and retrofit a replacement Lifeflight jet for life‑saving medical care and transportation from isolated rural hospitals and nursing stations to care centres in Winnipeg.

More information on emergency medical services can be found at www.gov.mb.ca/health/ems/index.html.